cultural commentary from the desk of Don Shewey
Sunday: sharing Marianne’s birthday batch of Baked by Melissa cupcakes
Monday: screen cap of ONCE composer Glen Hansard, from the bittersweet follow-up THE SWELL SEASON
Wednesday: the gamelan is safe from fire, for the time being anyway
Thursday: backyard Buddha
Friday: first sprouts of this summer’s morning glories
Saturday was my birthday and a beautiful day, so Andy and I took a walk through the bland dead part of Astoria…
…’til we got to Astoria Park with its beautiful lawns and views of the East River, Randalls Island, and the RFK bridge.
we sat on a bench reading our books for a while
until we could no longer resist the siren call of the Mister Softee truck parked across the street.
obviously, we weren’t the only ones
we headed back into Manhattan — on the subway these little girls were riveted by the sight of a homeless man sprawled sleeping on an entire row of seating (while everybody else studiously avoided him)
Andy and Steve gave a concert with the Dessoff Choirs — Randall and I and Steve’s sister Terry attended — and we all went out for dinner afterwards to Malaga on E. 73rd Street
Andy and I walked back to my house, pausing to take in the windows at Barneys
and Bergdorf
the main drag of Isabel Segunda, the larger of two towns on Vieques
Vista Dos Mares, at maximum capacity
the noisy neighbors
the nice neighbor, Carmen, who invited us to dinner
she’s considering turning her unfinished basement into a funky restaurant and nightclub
her place does have great views of the ocean
May 1 marked the official spring re-awakening of the Occupy Wall Street movement, with May Day actions all over town and a major rally in Union Square
I showed up with my friend Jonathan and we observed the energy — peaceful, energized, and unfocused
The crowd felt like real New Yorkers, all ages and colors, lots of union members and artists
With everybody doing his or her or their own thing, it was a little taste of “People’s Park” in Union Square — a show of solidarity for working people of every description everywhere. Political sentiments ranged from electoral to literary — Jonathan dubbed this woman’s sign as “Occupy Wonderland”
The people-watching was delicious, the outfits extraordinary.
Eventually, a march to Wall Street commenced, but we had other things to do. Walking toward the subway, we heard coming up behind us an enormous commotion. A very loud, very enraged young black queen in a Dolce + Gabbana windbreaker was shrieking into his cel phone: “I can’t get a fuckin’ taxi because these broke-ass bitches out here complaining about they broke when they should just get a job!” I feel your pain, girl. But, you know, shut up.
how I spent my spring vacation
the folks I spent my vacation with
plus...the critters
and the flora
supplies they don't carry at Fairway, strangely....
Linda and Marcella
adorable daddy and daughter
worshiping at the ice cream altar
Andy let me wear his hat, but only for a minute
